Parasite infestation?

[Carla D]

Tanner has some issues with his skin. I had initially thought is was lice or mites. They have been treated with Dectomax because they all had parasites. Today I went and brushed them all as I was giving them their bottles. A couple of them had crusty stuff and white specks of different sizes. I wanted to see if I could brush the crustys and specks away. The brushing helped tremendously. Except for on Tanner. The crusty was brushed off and the white specks were somewhat removed. I’m not sure if the white specks are lice eggs or not. They are in many different sizes. Some of which I think are too big to be lice eggs. But once I removed the crusted stuff from his neck I noticed some bumps on the back of his neck. At first I thought it was small scabs so I tried a bit more intently to brush them out. Tanner wasn’t tolerating it so I took a closer look at them. There was 4-6 small bumps about the size of sewing pins with very small bead as the head. To me it looked like they were just under the skin, which would explain Tanners intolerance. They must be painful. I am going to search on the internet to see if I can find anything about them. I did want to post in here before I did in case anyone had any ideas or experiences like this. There are a few pictures. You may not be able to determine exactly what you are seeing, but I tried. My eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be and neither is my husbands.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Not something i have seen, but very curious to find out !

 

[Carla D]

I’m finding they look a whole lot like burrowing mites. But burrowing mites don’t tend to be on a goats neck. More like their ears, around their face, testicular area, around the rear. I’m trying to figure out if lice burrow or bury eggs. That was my only other guess.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

You sure have had your hands full with these guys. Hope you find out what it is...pretty sure someone will jump on and give you some advice...

 

[Carla D]

You sure have had your hands full with these guys. Hope you find out what it is...pretty sure someone will jump on and give you some advice...

Tell me about it. I wonder how long it’s going to take to get everything under control? These poor guys, I don’t know how much more they can take.i don’t know how much more I can take either.

 

[Carla D]

I think what Tanner has is either demodectic mange or chorionic mange. Neither of them are easy to deal with.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Yikes.... i don't know what to say....i don't have experience with that...keep your hands and your daughters super clean after touching him...

 

[Carla D]

Yikes.... i don't know what to say....i don't have experience with that...keep your hands and your daughters super clean after touching him...

Actually things weren’t as bad as I thought. Because I had two goats down tonight and three more that were bloated as well, I got overwhelmed and called the vet to come out to the farm. There has been so many issues these last three weeks I thought things needed to be determined and dealt with all at once.

He came out and looked them all over. They have Enterotoxemia because of the big change in temperature and they are still bottle feeding. That explains the bloating.

Then on Tanner, someone has been chewing on his fur. He does have a growing number of patches on his back where his hair has been broken partial shaft. That’s where the scaly and bald spot on his back is from. The vet thinks the bumps and crap on his neck is due to either irritation or he’s scratching his neck on something. It got irritated and that resulted in the bumps on the back of his neck. Not mites.

Two other goats had developed dime sized abscesses on their sides. The scabby lump on their side is from when they ruptured. Not mites.

He actually took the time to explain things. What to look for. What caused it, and how to treat it if it happens again. He said it shouldn’t happen anymore this year, unless the bacteria is blooming in a few other ones. Since they will be weaned in the next two weeks I shouldn’t have to worry about that with them down the road. That is what I need from my vet. I know there are some things I will be able to treat without the vet. But I have to learn about them first. The whys, hows, when’s of these things. I have always learned better with hands on experience. I can read and reread and still not understand. I’ve been that way my entire life. He did reassure me that I’m not killing them. In fact, he said their surgical sites look amazing, even the one I had bandaged earlier this week. He was really impressed about their appearance. He said their coats are really shiny and they’ve gained noticeable amount of weight over the nearly last two weeks.

He even suggested how I should wean them and get them to drink water. He told me they were bottle babies. Just like a certain breed of calf that won’t drink from a dish, bowl, trough that’s what these guys are doing. He told me to start decreasing the formula a little bit each time for 1-2 weeks and adding more water to it will be the trick. He suggested I get a bucket with several nipples. Hang the bucket and let them drink their milk that way. When their milk is gone fill the bucket with water, to kind of wash the milk down and out of the bucket until they are no longer getting any formula. They should eventually learn to drink from a dish or bowl. They just aren’t ready. I feel much better now. I’m not going to kill my goats. I have a plan on how to and when to start weaning, now. And how to get them to drink their water. I also now know how to treat this type of bloat. All in all, a good visit.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Thats great news Carla, i am very happy that you got the reassurance from your vet. I bottle fed Rocky and Lilly for ten weeks and at eight weeks started with the extra water, Rocky was still six months old and i would bring him one bottle of just water ,lol. We both enjoyed our bottle time together....but i didnt have as many at that time as you do !

 

[greybeard]

Just like a certain breed of calf that won’t drink from a dish, bowl, trough t....

I'm curious what that cattle breed is. I'm not familiar with that.